Writing a book is difficult enough. Writing a series of books comes with its own set of problems. That is what my guest author today, Cheri Roman, discusses. Cheri is a writer, editor, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother and friend, in whatever order works best in the moment. Most days you can find her on her blog, The Brass Rag, or working on the next novel in her fantasy series, Rephaim. Cheri lives with her husband and Jack, the super Chihuahua.The Shoulda/Coulda/Woulda of Series Writing
The realization came to me, about half way through Descent, that the story I was writing
couldn’t be contained inside one book. If I tried, the book was going to have
to be opened with a forklift. So, I ended Descent
with a sigh of satisfaction and started Quest.
By the time I finally finished Quest, all my other characters were giving me the silent treatment.
I think it’s because I didn’t write their stories first. Characters can be
touchy that way. Turns out they were right. I was writing the stories out of
order. Now I’m finishing up Sacrifice,
and I finally feel like I’m back on track. Not coincidentally, Quest will have to be completely
rewritten, and another book, Illusions,
has taken its place as third in the series.
So what could I have done differently from the
outset that would have saved me from this dilemma?
I could have started out by deciding how many
stories would be in the series and what issues would be addressed in each one.
But the truth is I didn’t do that because I didn’t know that there would be
more than one story.
I could have done single paragraph synopsis for each
book. That way I would know what direction to take at the beginning of each
tale. However, aside from reason number
one, my plots have a habit of changing as the characters shape the story. So,
plot synopsis might have been helpful, but not completely effective.
I could have drawn out a story arc for each
character and a series arc or plot thread that connects all the books. I did,
in fact, draw out a story arc for the first book. In the end though, this
wasn’t as beneficial as I had hoped. Descent’s
final draft looks nothing like my original arc. I am actually working on a
connecting plot thread and am pretty happy with the results so far.
I could have chosen a different theme for each book
in the series. (Again. See reason one.) I may still do that, but at the moment
there is the whole silent treatment thing going on.
These are all good ways to start out on a series. I
definitely should have used more of them, but as you might have noticed, I
didn’t and it’s a little late now. So what am I going to do? Well, first I’m
going to invite all my characters to tea and apologize for not writing their
story first. (I’m not really sorry. Despite
the drawbacks I’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way and I’m a better
writer for it. But, one makes certain sacrifices in the interests of
diplomacy.) After apologizing, I’m going to ask them what happens next. And
then I’m going to write it down.
About her book:
Fulfilling one’s destiny requires sacrifice…
Escaping a global catastrophe, angel-human hybrid, Shahara, lands safely in Babylon with her beloved Volot, an angel with a sacred mission. But the victory is a hollow one, for the world she knew has been obliterated. Battered by the loss of her family and the denial of her most cherished dreams, Shahara’s new life begins to disintegrate as she is lured by promises of power and fulfillment into the violent, blood-soaked ambitions of a ruthless enemy. With her marriage shattered and countless lives hanging in the balance, Shahara must make a devastating choice. Can she survive her decision, or will victory require the ultimate sacrifice? By turns romantic, suspenseful and terrifying, this epic fantasy treads the knife edge of human frailty and superhuman courage.
Visit Cheri at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cheri_roman
Web site: www.brassragpress.com
Amazon author page: http://tinyurl.com/otz5ejp
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